This book offers the collected works of many dedicated and knowledgeable EMDR clinicians. As book editor and one of the chapter authors, I want to personally acknowledge the ongoing encouragement, support, and ideas that I have absorbed from countless people along the path that has led to the first and now second edition of this book.

First and foremost, I want to thank each of the authors in this book for their chapter contributions. For many authors, this was a first-time presentation in writing of their thoughts and they each rose to the opportunity. Authors took time to not only share what they know but to contextualize it with links to other literature. Each chapter tackles vast topics and effort was put into polishing each chapter to convey maximum value in a limited amount of space. Authors worked hard and within time windows that made editing this book a pleasure. And I personally learned from each chapter and author along the way.

I am grateful to Francine Shapiro, not just as the originator and developer of EMDR therapy, but for a conversation in 2005, during which she encouraged me to integrate my interests in cultural and societal context within the EMDR therapy model, and for her support after that time.

I have also learned from many in the EMDR therapist community who have engaged with me on this topic. Participants in my 2010 exploratory workshops provided detailed notes and comments from their practicum experiences, which validated the value of using EMDR methods with cultural identities and experiences. Since then, I have learned from other training participants and through the work of EMDR colleagues. I have gained insight from my clients’ EMDR therapy work and through my clinical consultees’ experiences with their clients.

I am grateful for the explicit commitment of EMDRIA to diversity and cultural competence and the sense of power that comes when EMDR organizations and groups unite around this topic. The many powerful presentations and articles related to culture and cultural trauma in recent years at EMDRIA conferences and in the EMDRIA magazine have been informative and inspiring. This content has helped shape the new chapters and added areas of emphasis in this book, most specifically related to racial trauma and adversity. Over the past 2 years, I have learned a lot in collaboration with my EMDR Institute faculty colleagues as we have worked hard to upgrade the culturally informed aspects of our training curriculum and make the training itself an inclusive atmosphere. These colleagues include Robbie Dunton, Rosalie Thomas, Katy Murray, Wendy Freitag, Alicia Avila, Roger Solomon, and April Minjarez.

Mentioning names of specific people inevitably leaves many people out and I apologize for that. Because I have learned from and been supported by so many colleagues. Yet, in addition to the authors in this book, some of the people who have provided important inspiration and support for the book along the way include study group member Jane Porter; former EMDRIA Board allies Diane DesPlantes and Jim Cole; local colleagues Jim Helling, Farns Lobenstine, and George Abbott; and other EMDR colleagues including Debbie Korn, Barb Hensley, David Eliscu, Jocelyn Barrett, Marlene Kenny, Michelle Marchese, Joany Spierings, Eboni Bugg, David Archer, and Reg Morrow.

In a book emphasizing cultural awareness, it seems appropriate to locate myself by acknowledging aspects of my own cultural identity. I am a White, cisgendered male, whose ancestors immigrated to the United States from England in the 1600s. Since settling in the New England region, my mother’s ancestors made their economic livelihood in farming and my father’s family worked in fishing and lobstering. My parents left these settings to attend college and my mother became a physical education teacher/coach and my father a Methodist minister. I have experienced many opportunities within my life that would not have been possible without privileges afforded to me based on aspects of my identity. As a person and as a trained social worker, my interest in social and cultural dynamics, inclusion, and justice has always felt authentic to who I am and my core values. At the same time, I consider my own cultural awareness as being a work in progress and I am committed to ongoing cultural self-reflection and social responsiveness.

I want to thank my two principal editorial contributors starting with Geneva Schmitt, PsyD, who is both an EMDR-trained clinician and a skilled editor. This book seeks to strike a balance between being innovative and practical for EMDR clinicians, while at the same time being grounded in and contributing to scholarly literature. Schmitt’s advocacy for evidence-based practice has helped this book have sturdier legs. Vanessa Rae, MPH, provided valuable assistance with content organization and editing in Section I of this book.

Finally, I am grateful to Springer Publishing Company for its commitment to the first edition of the book and for the opportunity to update the content to keep pace within the rapidly evolving frontier of culturally informed intervention and EMDR therapy.